Group items tagged

"One of the big challenges in the debate so far has been combating the myth that the filter is - or ever was - a cyber-safety tool designed to keep kids safe online. It's not. It's designed to "harmonise" censorship laws, not protect children from inappropriate content. It's censorship for its own sake." This is interesting as EFF Australia are running a campaign to educate people not normally involved in debates around the internet - indeed, the campaign targets people who may be inclined to suport the idea of a filter: mums and dads.

Looks at the recent proposed amendments by the federal government to the 25-year-old Sex Discrimination Act which aim to give greater legal protection to victims under 16 of online sexual harassment and cyber-bullying. Critics say the proposed changes are "too little to late."

Howard Schdmit, The Whitehouse's Cybersecurity coordinator has revealed the US Government's plans for tackling attacks on it's networks. He has promised transparency. The official announcement (this bookmark) is very vague in it's initiatives. It will be interesting to see whether their can really separate US government networks from other parts of the Internet.  Cyber attacks are definitely increasing and play a major part in conflicts between countries. China amongst others is said to have attacked & attempted to hack and launch DoS attacks on US government networks and Russia shut down the Georgian communications infrastructure during the last week between the two countries et. )

Social networks become the prime target for cybercrime, according to a Cisco report. Malicious code is masked as an online game on a social networking site, that once clicked, infects the user's computer without them knowing

 Is it OK to rely on members to moderate and monitor  content or should companies be responsible for the content that their users post?  

This is the Iranian government's answer to US anti-internet censorship groups who aim to undermine the regime's strict filtering rules through funding from the CIA. It brings up questions of international involvement in extreme national governance of the internet.

Blog post about how Facebook and MySpace handle cyber bullying. Should both sites "unmask" bullies and what would the possible implications be?  At present neither site is required to identify users who bully others or post offensive material unless requested by a subpoena.

"Don't believe the hype", should be the sub title for this article...let's get real people! Questions whether the internet is a tool for freedom or whether it is just an instrument enabling further oppression in certain countries. Features quotes and examples from academic and former "cyber-utopian" Evgeny Morozov. The comments section of the article also provides more insight.

google's response to the cyber attacks in China, and claim to close google.cn.

A California appeals court allows students to be trialled for hate crimes for posting threatening comments on a fellow student's blog after it was ruled these comments were not protected free speech. Interesting development that narrowss the gap between traditonal schoolyard bullying and cyber bullying.

An article about cyber bullying via Facebook groups. Notes that it doesn't just happen between peers, but adults can be the victim too, citing an example of a Facebook group created by students to bully a teacher. The article outlines the procedure that it taken to deal with this kind of bullying and the applicable laws on place to curb it.

With technology making it easier to for computer novices to steal user ids and data, now anyone can become a cybercriminal. This article showcases how easy it is to buy Zeus online, malware software which is used to steal information including online banking user ids and passwords and even security plans of US airports. Does accessibility turn you into a criminal? I still think if you're going to be a criminal you will find a way. Technology is certainly making it easier but you will only search for ways to hack into user info if you intend to steal in the first place.

Jail for cyber pirates? (In Spanish, I'm looking for an English version) 

Statistics now show that 15% of teachers have experienced cyber bullying themselves, and half know another teacher who has. Cyber bullying of teachers has included Facebook hate groups, Videos of the teachers in the classroom being posted to Youtube, or hate sites. Shows that this isn't just an issue between peers.

Australiam Government may take some actions to prevent online piracy, now with the iinet case is still on going, AFACT urges the government to do something to stop repeat copyright theft in cyber world.

Government and industry leaders in the US call for international cooperation on internet security. The three-day conference discussed issues ranging from cyberterrorism to organised cybercrime. Measures suggested included "cyber defense exercises" and enlisting the support of the private sector.

This article discusses how 42 states in the United States now have some sort anti-bullying laws. Despite these laws, and EULA agreements of social networking sites being in places, victims of cyberbullying do not often come forward for fear of not being taken seriously. One of the suggestions for combating cyberbullying is the real life "comeback", although it is warned that this may backfire, which needs to be scripted and rehearsed. Though there are no studies that indicate this is an effective method to combat cyberbullying, this should be exercise with caution. Cyberbullying appears to be one of those case-by-case situations, as the victims reactions - type of person they are - how they handle the situation - whom they come forward to tell to seek help, may be the biggest factors in how an ordeal of this nature should be considered. Sadly it appears that cyberbullies - like in the offline world - like to try and collect followers in the online world, and perhaps one of the better practices is to inform people that they should not be participating in the act of cyberbullying another, and hopefully reducing the motivation to continue.

This article discusses how in the state of Ohio lawmakers are looking to have schools discipline cyberbullies. Cyberbully victims have a higher chance of being depressed, and according to this article they are approximately 8 times more likely to bring weapons to school. Though the bill will help a lot of schools monitor children's conduct online, there were no clear outlines as to the means of how to schools will be able to discipline bullies. A lot of information and rules and regulations will have to be in place to inform parents of how the school will extend their boundaries beyond a physical realm, and into the online world. Though there is much work to be done on the specifics of cyberbullyin, setting school boundaries regarding cyberbullying is a good step towards, thwarting possible cases of cyberbullies, as school jurisdiction may no longer necessarily be within bounds of a school yard.

India's government is planning to develop its own OS due to security reasons. They do not want to rely on foreign operating systems as they believe this makes them more susceptible to cyber attacks. 

With an increasing number of critical systems being placed within virtual environments, security is now understandably a prime concern. Systems can be attacked, and valuable information and assets can be compromised. maybe looking at a Vulnerability management system?